Subsidence, Wall Cracks, Retaining wall leaning
Our pre-purchase Engineer Report for the buyer found the causes. And the solutions are simple & affordable.
Our expert report for the buyer found there has been some settlements of the footings and and the slab some time ago, but they were not serious and they had stopped. The cracks can be affordably repaired, the garage floor can be lifted simply and economically with Polyurethane Resin Injection, and the leaning wall can be monitored.
๐จ๐ป๐ถ๐ ๐ฆ๐ข๐๐!
Thanks to our brilliant independent Structural Engineer Report. The buyer was thrilled and could not wait to move in!
Home owners, buyer or sellers. Contact Forensic Engineers for expert subsidence advice. We will never let-you-down.
Structural Engineer Reports - All in a Day's Work
๐๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ญ; ๐ก๐ผ๐ฟ๐๐ต ๐๐ผ๐ผ๐๐ฎ๐น - ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐ป๐ผ๐๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ต๐ผ๐๐๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐๐ต ๐๐ฎ๐น๐น ๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ธ๐
The owner of a 1970's bungalow was renovating and needed expert advice about how to repair cracked and displaced bricks. We found that footing settlements and rotation was the cause. And we recommended a number of procedures to reduce footing movements and some great methods to repair the damaged bricks.
๐๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ฎ; ๐๐๐ฟ๐น๐ฒ๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ -๐ข๐น๐ฑ ๐๐ฎ๐น๐น ๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ธ๐
House on-the-market with some old subsidence and repaired cracks. Our investigation found that there had been some footing settlements due to loose material in the footings when the footings were poured and also seepage had been softening the founding material. That had been stabilized and the house was sound-as-a-pound
๐๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ฏ; ๐ ๐ ๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ฏ๐ - ๐ฅ๐๐๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฒ๐น ๐ฝ๐ผ๐๐ ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐
We found the galvanizing had been damaged by the concretors during the build, and the post bases had not been "tanked". Cleaning and treating post bases will prolong the life of some posts, but post replacement will be required in the future.
๐๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ฐ: ๐ฅ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐๐ผ๐ผ๐ฑ - ๐๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ & ๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ธ๐
House with some typical gaps and cracks. We found that the slab had very serious deflections that were progressing and significant underpinning would be required to stabilize the house.
๐๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ฑ: ๐ฆ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ป๐ด๐ณ๐ถ๐ฒ๐น๐ฑ ๐๐ฎ๐ธ๐ฒ๐ - ๐ช๐ฎ๐ณ๐ณ๐น๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฑ ๐๐น๐ฎ๐ฏ ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ด๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐บ๐ฎ๐ด๐ฒ.
We inspected this house for the buyer. A small section of the slab edge beam had broken away and edge reinforcement was exposed. Our investigation found that the damage was localized and the slab had no significant deflections in this area. Our expert structural engineer report recommended simple cost-effective repairs.
๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ฐ ๐๐ป๐ด๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐๐
๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ฟ๐๐ฐ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐น ๐๐ป๐ด๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐๐
๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐
Sink Hole at Taigum, Serious House Settlements at Kuraby and Subsidence at Mermaid Waters
๐ ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ ๐ ๐ฉ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐๐๐๐ก ๐๐๐ฎ ๐๐ค๐ง ๐๐ค๐ง๐๐ฃ๐จ๐๐ ๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ง๐จ.
๐ง๐ฎ๐ถ๐ด๐๐บ ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฒ - ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฆ๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ฎ ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฎ๐ด๐ฒ๐ฟ๐.
- A broken water pipe had caused a large sink hole to form under a townhouse driveway.
- Our investigation found that the slab had not been damaged and we recommended the hole could be filled and the driveway slab re-supported using either Polyurethane Resin Injection, or with hyflow cementitious grout aka "Mud-Jacking".
๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ C๐ฎ๐๐ฒ - ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฎ๐ด๐ฒ๐ฟ.
- This older house had serious movements of the perimeter footings and the stumps under the floor. Most of Kuraby has highly plastic clay founding soils which can cause footings to seriously lift and settle and often "rotate" (lean).
- The footings had moved so much that the timber floor had become unstable and we recommended vacating and comprehensive re-stumping & replacement of the perimeter base and footings.
๐ ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐บ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ฑ ๐ช๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ - ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐๐๐ถ๐ด๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐ต๐ฒ P๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ O๐๐ป๐ฒ๐ฟ.
- The townhouse complex is located on compressible landfill which has been slowly settling for decades. We identified recent cracks and gaps and serious variations in the floor levels which would be due to active settlements of the founding materials.
- We considered a number of methods for stabilizing the house footings and the only reliable one would be using conventional underpinning, possibly incorporating some steel screw piers where a water table is encountered.
๐๐ ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ฟ๐๐ฐ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐น ๐๐ป๐ด๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐๐ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ฆ๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ฎ ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฎ๐ด๐ฒ๐ฟ๐, ๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ ๐ข๐๐ป๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ & ๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฎ๐ด๐ฒ๐ฟ๐
Wall Cracks growing
Our structural engineer inspection for the owner of this Wellington Point house found;
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Gradual footing settlements were slowly progressing, year after year, and seriously damaging the house.
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The cause could be traced back decades to when the house was built.
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The original site preparation included cutting and filling, which had pushed loose landfill to one side of the building platform, and the house footings were not dug deep enough to properly support the house on one side.
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The original site clearing had involved removal of very large trees, and this had disturbed the soil to considerable depth.
Our structural engineer report found that the best way to stabilise and fix the house was with conventional, reliable underpinning utilising reinforced concrete piers.
Other methods such as steel screw piers were more expensive, and urethane resin was not applicable in this case.
Mehrtens Underpinning & Construction did brilliant work with the underpinning, and all of the building repairs were included in their scope.
Sink Holes, Subsidence, Voids under Footings & Slabs
These are common foundation issues we investigate every day.
Be alert.
Act now.
Peace-of-mind
Body Corp: Structural Engineer Report, SUBSIDENCE & WALLS CRACKS
Gaps in window reveals and door jambs
Building & Pest Inspection identified gaps in window reveals and door jambs due to possible subsidence & we were asked to investigate.
Our Structural Engineer Report found that there had been some initial settlements that opened some gaps, but the house was quite stable.
We found that there was no requirement for any structural repairs (underpinning) and the gaps could be sealed where required. Peace-of-mind for the seller & buyer.
Home owners & buyers with subsidence issues can rely on Forensic Engineers for an honest, independent engineer report
House for Sale with Wall Cracks & Gaps?
This house in the Brisbane suburb of Banyo was on the market and buyers were alarmed about wall cracks and gaps.
๐ฆ๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐๐ผ ๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ผ๐๐ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ผ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐บ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฝ๐ถ๐ป๐ป๐ถ๐ป๐ด.
A really thorough Building & Pest Inspector recommended contacting Forensic Engineers for an expert investigation.
Our Expert Structural Engineer Report found that the house had some previous movements of the footings and that there were still some ongoing movements and wall cracks and gaps.
But, thank goodness! ๐ก๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ผ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐บ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฒ๐
๐ฐ๐ฒ๐๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ด๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐น๐ฑ ๐ฏ๐ฒ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ถ๐บ๐ฝ๐น๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฒ๐ณ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐น๐.
The property owner and buyer was so relieved, thanks to ๐ฎ๐ป๐ผ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฏ๐ฟ๐ถ๐น๐น๐ถ๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐๐๐ถ๐ด๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ ๐ณ๐ฟ๐ผ๐บ ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ฐ ๐๐ป๐ด๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐
Pre-Purchase - Structural Engineer Report
Subsidence, Wall Cracks, Sink Holes, Stump Damage
Structural Engineer Reports needed from Forensic Engineers.
These are cases we deal with every day.
Case 1) A house at Warner had serious settlements under a slab. We found the causes, assessed the slab condition and gave expert recommendations to re-support the slab. In this case pressure grouting was the most practical and affordable repair.
Case 2) A Tweed Heads house with possibly serious subsidence problems. We found that there had been some footing settlements a long time ago, but the house was now stable. Some drainage work and expert crack repair required - no underpinning needed! A terrific result.
Case 3) Walloon house with serious slab movements. We are in Walloon just about every week! If you are looking to buy a house in this area and the Building & Pest Report finds wall cracks - for peace-of-mind, call us to arrange an Expert Structural Engineer Report. In most cases there are some movements of the house footings and site works can help to keep the house relatively stable. In other cases where serious movements and damages are evident, traditional underpinning is the most effective method for stabilization, level correction and crack closure.
Case 4) A house on-the-market at Stafford. The buyer was concerned that damaged stumps have caused structural damages to the house. Our expert investigation found that apart from some stumps that were past their "use-by" date, the house was "sound-as-a pound".
